Dismantling borders and boundaries: Capturing the Perspectives of the ‘Other’
Lai Kuan Lim, Helen Hooper, Lynette Ireland & Trina Jackson
Recent discussion in higher education that followed from the Bradley Report (2009) and
Masters Report (2008) highlights the importance of supporting first year pre-service
teachers’ transition to university, particularly in regional universities which have a higher
proportion of students from culturally diverse backgrounds including a high proportion of
Indigenous students. Kift (2009) contends that a “transition pedagogy” in first year
curriculum is particularly important in facilitating a successful first year university
experience for diverse student cohorts. A holistic approach involving cross-institution
partnerships between academic and support staff is key to enhancing first year experience
(Kift, 2009, Kift & Nelson, 2005).
This paper reports on the successful collaboration between academic staff, a Faculty
librarian and graduating students across disciplinary boundaries in conceptualising and
producing a multi-layered, online induction in core academic skills (iCAS) for over 400 first
year Education students in James Cook University. The creation of iCAS drew on first year
experience literature and cross-institution collaboration with an emphasis on information
literacy to enable the development of student research and information access. Crossinstitution discourse was focused on the process and outcomes of harnessing different
knowledges and perspectives from varying disciplines.
Additionally, preliminary survey findings from student feedback on iCAS indicate that
students are greatly valuing the presence of a transition pedagogy embedded within the
curriculum. A key to the articulation of this ‘transition’ is the presence of multiple voices and
perspectives in making visible the ‘hidden curriculum’ in university study, with the focus on
first year Education students. When engaging students with diverse knowledges, gathering
the expertise and perspectives of colleagues from non-education faculties augments the
knowledge present in education schools. This article concludes with reflections on the
importance and the process of implementation for cross-institution partnerships in teacher
education and transition pedagogies.
Keywords: interdisciplinary, first year experience, academic skills, information literacy
Following the Bradley Report (2009), discussions on how to increase the enrolment of
students from low socioeconomic and Indigenous backgrounds to Australian universities
gathered momentum in policy and practice. Admission requirements based strictly on Year 12
exit performance have been argued to be neither adequate nor fair (Gale, 2009; Marks,
McMillan & Hillman, 2001) which add support to widening the entry requirements into
higher education. While admission requirements have been reformulated to attract students
from a greater cross-section of the community, the expectations of students to be independent
learners and develop their academic literacy standards by themselves remain relatively
unchanged (Wingate, 2007).
Providing support to students who do not possess the required level of academic skills for a
successful first year university study is both a moral and economic imperative. As much
literature indicates, transition into higher education is important; it impacts on retention, and with
the latter being one of the performance indicators for government funding, universities are
marshalling out strategies to improve First Year Experience (FYE) (Kift & Nelson, 2005; Kift,
2009; Krause, Hartley, James, & McInnis, 2005). The task of supporting diverse student
cohort demands considerations that extend beyond the triad of curriculum, pedagogy and
assessment to co-curricular student support services, and when seen in this light, it is not a
task that can be framed up within a subject or seen as the onus of individual academic staff
members (Kift, Nelson & Clarke, 2010). Particularly, with the pressures of tight budget and
workload, a coordinated university wide response could offer cost efficiency, and importantly,
multiple sources of student support, and in turn, makes visible the limitation of a silo
approach towards a first year university experience (McInnis, 2001).
Whilst literature about strategies to improve first year experience is relatively well developed,
there’s a paucity of research on the value of partnerships in supporting first year students.
Equally, in teacher education literature, there’s much on partnerships between university and
schools (Goodlad, 1993; Grundy, Robison & Tomazos, 2001; Soliman, 2001), little however
is explored about cross-faculty collaboration in curriculum design. This paper discusses the
pedagogical, pastoral and pragmatic value of harnessing diverse perspectives in curricular
design to provide first year students support in their transition to university. It does so through
the discussion of a pilot project, ‘Induction in Core Academic Skills’ (iCAS) which was
designed and implemented by a team of academic staff from different schools, a librarian,
graduate students and an undergraduate for first year Education students. Accordingly, the
paper aims to draw attention to the call to bridge the silos in university work culture and
make a case for drawing perspectives and expertise that lie beyond teacher education
departments) to improve the preparation of pre-service teachers (McInnis, 2001, Kift &
Nelson, 2005; Doskatch, 2003).
Looking beyond the confines of teacher education
Collaboration offers an instrumental gain in augmenting each partner’s expertise (Stein &
Short, 2001). However the conditions for collaboration is intricately constrained by the complex
discursive power constituted in the divisions of roles, disciplines, ranks within a university.
Boundaries are symbolically and physical drawn which mark the inhabited space, territory of
each division. By proximity and familiarity, collaborating within the same discipline or
department seems convenient and collegial. Equally, collaborating with the very subjects we
research offers very tangible and apparent outcomes. Funding conditions in current
neoliberal regime increasingly promote, if not necessitate universities to form partnerships
with different sectors, and develop research projects that engage perspectives and expertise
across disciplines (Phelan, Anderson, Bourke, 2000). In teaching however, a silo culture
remains more resistant to collaboration (Stein & Shore, 2001).
In teacher education, partnerships with schools have long been encouraged by government
funding and policy pressures (Grundy, Robison and Tomazos, 2001) but the impetus to
collaborate with colleagues across the university in teaching, the very core business that
defines teacher educators’ identity and work, has not been as compelling. What can
colleagues who are not in teacher education offer to teacher educators about their business?
In the discussion that follows we will examine a collaborative project, iCAS to show that it is
good business for teacher educators to identify and capture perspectives from colleagues who
are not from ‘within’.
Recognising and capitalising on diverse expertise within a university is even more relevant
for regional universities, such as James Cook University, which is the only university located
in North Queensland and serves a diverse student cohort. Enhancing First Year Experience
(FYE) is one of the key priorities identified by the University, and within the faculty whereby
the School of Education is situated, FYE is of special focus. iCAS represents one of the
initiatives designed to respond to the diverse student cohort. The purpose of iCAS was to
make the transition into first year Education more equitable for pre-service teachers who had
limited first or second-hand knowledge about the expectations of university study.
As much of first year literature reports, students often feel under-prepared for university
study (Brinkworth, McCann, Matthews & Nordstrǒm, 2009; Krause, et al., 2005; Wingate,
2007). As Krause et al. (2005) contend “students’ academic and social experiences cannot be
left to chance or serendipity; rather, concerted efforts and planning (Nora, 1993; Tinto, 1993)
should be put in place to actively integrate students into the university community.” (p.149)
With the diversity in student academic skills level present in the first year pre-service
teachers, providing support to develop their academic and information skills is a matter of
equity, as well as an economic imperative (Brinkworth et al., 2009). Whilst the University
offers a range of academic skills support, Peacock (2008) observes, these skills are more
effectively learned when they are taught “within the context of a discipline” (p.1). To
enhance student learning of these skills, iCAS is embedded in a core first semester, first year
Education subject. It consists of five modules Orientation, Critical Reading, Information
Literacy, Critical Writing, Presentation and Examination. In each module, the skills are
contextualised in the subject of Foundations of Education. Further, it drew on the expertise of
the faculty librarian and staff from the Tertiary Access Course as well as three Education
graduates in the design and delivery of the program. Given that the teaching of information
literacy and academic literacy skills are informed by a substantial body of evidence-based
practices, and are professions defined by specific qualifications (Peacock, 2008), the
expertise of the faculty librarian and colleagues from TAC augments the capacities and
knowledge within the School of Education.
The specific expertise that a librarian offers can enhance pedagogy and better support student
learning. Developing students’ information literacy skills can improve students’ success in
university (Jackson, 2007). In James Cook University, as it is in other Australian institutions,
information literacy skills are desired graduate attributes. For pre-service teachers,
knowledge and skills in information literacy is also a professional requirement for teaching
21st century learners. With the internet being the largest global depository of information,
librarians often have more up-to-date knowledge of information technology than academic
staff members (Doskatch, 2003). Furthermore, with the increased reliance on Learning
Management Systems (LMS) as a dominant medium in university pedagogy, the pedagogical
value for academics and librarians to collaborate is considerable (Lindstrom & Shonrock,
2006).
Yet, in a study conducted by Jackson (2007), faculty only involved the librarians in face-toface information literacy instruction and “almost never for courses on the LMS”. (p.456) The
biggest perceived barrier in incorporating information literacy, according to Jackson (2007)
was the relationship between librarian and faculty. A limited or absence of collaboration
could be one of the reasons students in the study by Lumsden, McBryde-Wilding, & Rose
(2010) reported they had limited skills in accessing the library information, and almost half of
them indicated they did not use the library. When these findings are put alongside studies that
indicate many teachers are limited in their knowledge in developing students’ information
literacy skills (Ladbrook & Probert, 2011; Lonsdale & Armstrong, 2004; Van Zijl, Bennett,
D., Darling, Shields & Bennett, E., 2006), the implications of not drawing the expertise of
librarians in teacher education program are magnified.
Two staff members in TAC were invited to be in the project to inform the overall design, as
well as to write the modules of Critical Reading and Critical Writing. TAC is a bridging
course for students who do not meet university academic entry requirements. Because of the
relative homogeneity in students’ academic skills, TAC staff members bring to the project
their acute appreciation of the anxieties and aspirations of students who are apprehensive of
their own abilities in meeting university expectations. Academic writing was reported to be
one of the more demanding tasks in university study (Krause, 2001), therefore drawing the
specialised pedagogical knowledge of TAC staff to support first year pre-service teachers has
both pedagogical and pragmatic benefits. In particular, following the Masters Report (2008),
for pre-service teachers in Queensland, they have to ensure their literacy skills are appropriate
to gain registration to teach.
The expertise that TAC holds in supporting students’ transition to university is in sharp
contrast to academic staff members who are more accustomed to a range of student abilities
and might not be as attuned to students’ struggles in learning. Furthermore academic staff
expects students to demonstrate a satisfactory level of academic skills, and are less concerned
or feel responsible for how they acquire them (Trotter & Roberts, 2006; Wingate, 2007).
Library and TAC staff members on the other hand recognise academic and information
literacy skills as the means, and not the end itself (Peacock, 2008). They also recognise the
symbiotic relationship between critical thinking, academic and information literacy skills
(Peacock, 2008). With the pressure to meet Bradley (2008) and retention targets, the
pedagogical and pastoral knowledge that TAC staff hold is fodder to inform university wide
FY support strategies.
Harnessing Diverse Perspectives: The iCAS Approach
Although iCAS was conceived by an Education academic, it was clear at the outset that the
faculty librarian and TAC staff were critical to the project. By coalescing different
pedagogical, pastoral and discipline knowledge and experience, iCAS offers students
multiple perspectives in supporting their transition into university.
The librarian’s knowledge of LMS guided the decision on the platform to host iCAS. As it
was delivered online for students across three campuses, and in three delivery modes, the
choice of LMS has to be able to support independent learning. Blackboard is the university
LMS for all course delivery, however the university’s LibGuide platform was chosen instead.
What it offered was a greater flexibility in the layout of multimedia content and supported
social networking on site.
It was also clear that the project needed the involvement of Education graduates to firstly
provide a mentoring and assuring voice to the course, and secondly their ‘insider’ and
‘embodied’ knowledge could make visible the ‘hidden curriculum’ in university study. Kift,
et. al. 2010) propose “that all students must be inspired, supported, and realise their sense of
belonging…” (p.7) To do so, the Orientation module was written by an Education graduate
and perspectives from Education students were incorporated in the module to offer peer-topeer support and inspiration. Students responded to the reflexive discussion of the
expectations and demands of the Education degree on the iCAS site. For example, in one
reflection of balancing university study and social life, students shared their opinions on the
site:
It's really hard- perhaps impossible to enjoy the RnR moments in life, when your mind
is elsewhere; panicked and stressed over incomplete assignments.
I agree that having fun is just as important as uni. Creating a balance isn't always
easy though, so a timetable definitely helps.
Impact
We have argued earlier why cross-discipline collaboration is necessary in enhancing first year
experience, and we have also demonstrated one way of doing so. Student response to iCAS
offers compelling reasons for staff to collaborate across disciplines. The following discussion
presents anonymous and volunteered feedback to iCAS.
iCAS was launched in February 2011 and in a relatively short period of three months; it
accumulated 50245 hits to its site (see Table 1). The assessment component in iCAS could
explain the number of hits to the site. Whilst the number does not mean any significant
learning, it does suggest that students were sufficiently interested to make a hit on the site.
Table 1: Accumulated Webpage Hits from February to May 2010
6830
14440
8332
iCAS1
iCAS2
9559
11084
iCAS3
iCAS4
iCAS5
Table 2 illustrates students’ satisfaction with each module. It shows an average of 4 (‘very
satisfied’) with iCAS. The satisfaction expressed here is with the materials as iCAS was
delivered online without face-to-face support.
Table 2: Average Feedback Rating
4
4.2
iCAS1
4.07
3.96
iCAS2
iCAS3
4.2
iCAS4
iCAS5
In the qualitative feedback, the reasons for their satisfaction are clarified. The following
feedback shows a self-realisation of the transformation of in their academic skills:
I have always struggled with my readings – now that I understand what is required
and how to dissect them I can put it all into context. I believe this has really helped
me and will no doubt save me a vast amount of time.
I always thought I was just a naturally slow reader, but after reading the effective
reading techniques at the start of the module, and using them throughout the rest of
the module, I could notice I was getting quicker. I am now a lot more aware of the
techniques used to persuade readers also, and I think I can say I really will be a more
effective and critical reader after completing this module. Thankyou!
ICAS is helping me improve my academic reading/writing techniques so much !! Very
happy with content and it's presentation. It is fun, easy to read and remember.
First year students often feel under-prepared for university study and part of this anxiety
stems from being a new context and they do not know what they need to know. Academic
support gives students a greater sense of inclusion to the academic and social life of
university (Brinkworth, et al., 2009). In the following feedback, relevant information is
identified as “very” important to their study:
Very helpful, I learnt about meta search engines I never knew existed.
Icas has been well constructed to pass on relevant information to the students. Even
the short Youtube presentations are funny and very informative.
Although iCAS is very time consuming and makes life a little more difficult, I feel this
is a vital part of the course to enhance our knowledge and prepare us and confirm
what we know and what we don't know a very valuable tool. It is very late at night
and probably not taking it all in but at least iCAS will still be here tomorrow to help
me on my journey. Great job guys!
The feedback of students who were not new to the course indicates that they recognised the
value of iCAS.
I actually did this subject last year and I found it rather hard because we didn’t have
textbooks and this site really helps you understand.
I am a mid-year intake student. It would have been great to have had this last
semester!
This would have been very useful for my first subjects at JCU, but as I commenced
CP2 a year ago, I had to work through most of the things outlined here and eventually
found most of this information out myself - before this. It would have been great to
have had it delivered to me in my orientation week.
Conclusion
McWilliam & O’Brien (1993) draw up the enterprising academic as situated in conditions of
entrepreneurialism. One of its manifestations is the economic rationalisation that harnessing
different perspectives has a ‘value-adding’ potential. In a performative regime, Davies,
Edwards, Gannon, & Laws (2007) demonstrate meeting measurable outcomes is far less
difficult than gaining substantive insights that can effect “immeasurable conceptual shift’
(p.38). Likewise, student feedback appears that iCAS has met the measurable outcomes, the
question of its effectiveness in improving student retention or academic performance is
however far more difficult to determine and prove. What iCAS does suggest is a deterritorialisation of the boundary that marks teacher education in, and re-territorialisation of
the knowledges and capacities within the university. Opening the gate for the perspectives of
colleagues from other disciplines to flow in, is perhaps one of the more important conceptual
shift that they can take.
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